To this day, scholars have been examining the “nag factor,” which is a child’s natural propensity to repeatedly request items due to familiarity with the specific object. Although many have come to conclusions on why the nag factor can be detrimental, companies continue to take advantage of the impact nagging has on business profits. Therefore, companies find it effective to design products and advertise towards children in order to convince parents support the business by b=spending money to stop the constant nagging.

More specifically, over “17 billion dollars” (CCFC) have gone into child advertising because they are the most profitable audience. Child advertising is beneficial on a corporate scale, yet there are several arguments on whether advertising to children is ethical. The ethics behind this issue are controversial; however, the focus of this paper is to elaborate on the reasons why children are drawn into certain images over others and how businesses formulate products to obtain attention from children.  

Based on the empathic topics discussed in the course, it is intriguing to research how  the development of empathy occurs in children and how this affects what they find appealing in advertisements. The scholar, Martin Hoffman, elaborates on this topic in several of his works. Based on his theory, empathic development occurs in stages. As the child develops, he or she begins to experience feelings like distress and begins to recognize the difference of feelings  between themselves and their counterpart. It is clear that children can feel, but there isn’t a firm understanding on whether or not children are aware of their own emotions while in contact with certain images places in advertisements.

This topic is relevant because children are often categorized as innocent or oblivious, but children are very intelligent. What makes them unique, is the way the express their emotions without consciously knowing how they feel. Another inquiry that arises from this topic is how these companies know what images to utilize in order to evoke certain emotions.  

Works Cited:

Campaign for a Commercial- Free Childhood. “Marketing to Children Overview.” (2017.)

“The Development of Empathy: Hoffman’s Theory.” Unpopular Vegan Essays Archives. October 2007

Hoffman, Martin L. “Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives: Empathy, Justice, and the Law.” Oxford University Press. (2011).

John Hopkins Medical School. “The Nag Factor: How do Children Convince their Parents to Buy Unhealthy Foods” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (2011).

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